Time for Barchi to resign post

Rutgers University suffers from a stunning, across-the-board absence of leadership.

That, more than anything, was made clear Friday in a debacle of a press conference announcing the resignation under fire of athletic director Tim Pernetti, during which the school's leaders threw anyone they could under the bus to deflect responsibility from themselves.

Mike Rice, the former men's basketball coach, is already gone, fired Wednesday after video of his verbal and physical assaults of players was exposed publicly. Pernetti resigned Friday, noting in a statement read by President Robert Barchi that he had been inclined to fire Rice immediately upon seeing the tapes last year, but was essentially overruled by university lawyers and outside counsel. And, ultimately, we might add, Barchi. Assistant coach Jimmy Martelli has also resigned, and the head of the legal team that advised the school against the immediate firing is also gone.

But Barchi stays on. In accepting Pernetti's resignation on Friday, Barchi acknowledged never watching the Rice tapes until this week, after the firestorm broke. His explanation, in short, is that Pernetti never made clear the scope of Rice's actions and that he didn't realize how "pervasive" the abuses had been.

How could he have signed off on a three-game suspension of his school's head basketball coach after an extensive investigation involving many school departments without even watching the tape? How could he have not wanted to see it for himself when he knew that the former assistant coach who ultimately exposed the abuses, Eric Murdock, was pursuing a settlement from the school for wrongful termination? All of this revolving around one of a handful of the most prominent representatives of the entire school, the head basketball coach.

Barchi blames Pernetti and the lawyers. Ralph Izzo, chairman of the Rutgers Board of Governors, said he too never saw the tape, because the board doesn't involve itself in such day-to-day matters, and that the entire mess was the product of a failed process. With a response like that, Izzo too has raised questions about his own suitability to remain at his post; that, and the fact that he and the board apparently have no intention of seeking Barchi's resignation.

So, the message from Rutgers' top administrators is this: When in doubt, blame your underlings. And blame the lawyers. Then hope there is enough blood in the street to satisfy the public outrage.

Maybe Pernetti took the easy way out, laying it on the lawyers rather than fighting for what he supposedly thought was right. Maybe he intentionally downplayed Rice's behavior to Barchi. But given all that transpired leading up to the decision to suspend and fine Rice, Barchi's failure to review the tapes showed remarkably poor judgment. That and his refusal to accept meaningful responsibility for this fiasco demonstrate he cannot be trusted to lead Rutgers forward.

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Time for Barchi to resign post

Rutgers University suffers from a stunning, across-the-board absence of leadership.

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